Coming Home
by Philip S
Summary: 7th in the Angelic Face series. Angela returns to Earth, filled with the need to help Buffy and figure out her own identity. There is another Slayer in town, though, and the wounds Angelus inflicted are still fresh.
1. Chapter 1

Coming Home 1/12 (Angelic Face #7)  
by Philip S.

Summary: Angela returns to Earth, filled with the need to help Buffy and figure out her own identity. There is another Slayer in town, though, and the wounds Angelus inflicted are still fresh.  
Spoilers: General spoilers for S3 episodes "Revelations", but very much AU. You should have read the preceding episodes of Angelic Face in order to get the most from this story.  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Buffy and associated characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No infringement intended. The storyline and original characters are copyright Philip S.

* * *

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

The Gypsies' curse has returned Angelus' soul and turned him into a woman. Now calling herself Angela, she is recruited by the Powers That Be to help the Slayer, Buffy Summers. Drusilla, looking for the return of her daddy, uses the magic of the demon Toth and splits Angela in two. Angelus is back, freed of his soul, while his human half, Angela, finally confesses to Buffy her true feelings. Angelus, looking to rid himself of his human half, unleashes the demon Akathler.

At the climax of the battle Angela is forced to reunite with the vampire to save Buffy's life. Angelus has already unleashed the demon, though, so Angela does the only thing she can and sacrifices herself. The Powers That Be intervene, though, bringing Angela to heaven instead of hell. There she is given the choice between eternal peace or returning to help Buffy. Angela chooses to return, but in the process she learns that she is not who she thought she was.

* * *

Chapter 1:

Willow looked up as the library doors flew open, three weary figures limping through them.

"I almost had him," Xander complained, the right side of his face looking like someone's had made repeated and very solid contact with it.

"He looked scared," Oz said, cradling his right arm close to his chest. "Especially when you stumbled and nearly staked him through the thigh."

Giles said nothing, just followed the two youths inside and sat down heavily at the library table. He was tired, incredibly so, and things were not likely to get easier any time soon. The vampires in Sunnydale had multiplied despite the absence of a strong leader and the situation was getting hairy.

Especially with the Slayer out of commission.

"You guys okay?" Willow looked at them, worried. She had wanted to go with them on patrol, but Giles had insisted that she had more important things to take care of. One thing in particular, on which he would no doubt want a status report very soon.

"Just bumps and bruises," Xander groaned, sitting down as well. "We're getting better."

"Yeah, we're getting three out of ten," Oz deadpanned.

"When we started out it was barely one out of ten."

"By that logic this town should be vampire-free in another few months."

Willow shook her head, smiling despite herself. Her friends were risking their lives every night, going out to do something none of them was really able to do. Keep Sunnydale's vampire population under control in the absence of the one who was destined to do this.

"Willow," Giles shook her from her thoughts. "How is Buffy?"

Willow looked down, not sure how to answer that question. How was Buffy? Physically she was fine. The many wounds she had sustained from her battle against Angelus a month ago were all gone, even the one where the evil vampire had stabbed her right through the shoulder and then twisted the blade. Not even scars remained and Buffy was as healthy as a newborn baby.

Physically.

As for the rest, well, Willow could not help but remember something that had happened only a few days ago. Something she had yet to tell the gang about.

* * *

Willow unlocked the door to the dark apartment and stepped inside, calling out for Buffy as she did so. Willow did not like this place at all, it gave her the creeps. It was always dark, the only windows set high into the wall and heavily curtained, not a single ray of sunlight coming through.

It was place built for a creature of the night.

"Buffy?" Willow called out again, looking around to find her friend. Buffy had to be here, she had barely left the place ever since moving in here. Willow still had trouble thinking of this as Buffy's home, but seeing as the Slayer refused to go anywhere else pretty much qualified it as that, she guessed.

This was Angela's apartment, the place where she had lived as a vampire. During her few short months as a human being she had lived elsewhere, a place with many windows and a fully stocked fridge, but the apartment building had been burned to the ground the same night Angela had been captured by Angelus, the demon's effort to eradicate all proof that he had ever had a human half.

Leaving this as the only place in Sunnydale that held any traces of the woman who had sacrificed her life to save the world.

After searching the living room and having no luck Willow stepped into the bathroom, hoping that Buffy might be there. She froze halfway through the door.

"Buffy," she whispered, not believing what she saw.

The Slayer was sitting on the ground, her back against the bathtub, and looked up at Willow with hazel eyes blurry with tears. She wore nothing but underwear, her skin almost as white as the tiles she sat on.

Her right hand clutched a kitchen knife, holding it close to her left wrist.

"Suicide is supposed to send you to hell, right?"

Willow needed several seconds to realize that this was Buffy's voice she was hearing. It sounded nothing like the girl she knew, sounded more like that of a broken child.

"I ... I don't know, Buffy," Willow said carefully, reluctant to do anything that might cause Buffy to lower the knife any further. "Jewish, remember?"

Buffy looked down at the knife in her hand and a tear was rolling down her cheek.

"They say if you kill yourself that's a deadly sin and then you go to Hell. Just like ... just like ..."

Her voice broke and the knife slipped from her fingers as she curled into a ball, sobbing. Willow quickly hid the blade in her rucksack, making a mental note to remove all other knives from the kitchen later on, then knelt down beside Buffy and wrapped her arms around her best friend.

"I miss her so much, Will," Buffy sobbed. "Why did she have to die? Why did she have to die before I could tell her that I love her?"

Willow knew no good answer to that question, so she just proceeded to hold her friend and pray to whatever god or gods might be listening to give her some peace for a change.

* * *

"No change," Willow told the others, shoving the memory away. "She refused to leave the apartment and ... well, pretty much everything else, too. I can barely get her to eat."

It had fallen to Willow to take care of Buffy. They all hoped that, as some more time passed, Buffy would get better or at least agree to go back to her mother, who deeply regretted her actions on the day of Angela's death. No luck so far. The only thing the Slayer seemed interested in was to sleep and be miserable.

Giles sighed deeply. Things were getting worse out there. Vampires and demons were not generally among the great thinkers of our time, but they had started to notice that the Slayer was not patrolling at night. The Hellmouth was without a guardian and that was a potentially fatal situation, both for them and the world at large.

All of which meant that Giles was running out of options.

"I will make a call to the Council," he told the others. "I will ... I will ask them to send the new Slayer here."

Everyone gasped, not believing what they heard. Oh, they all knew that there was a new Slayer. Kendra had died, here in this very room, and when one Slayer died another was called. They had all heard that story more often than they cared to remember.

Xander was the first to regain his voice. "What do you mean, call the new Slayer? We already have a Slayer here."

"A Slayer who is unable to do her duty," Giles said sadly.

"That's not fair," Willow positively exploded. "She went through so much, she just needs ..."

"I know what she went through," Giles interrupted her, tired and edgy himself. "I was there, remember?"

Unlike Buffy Giles still had the scars to prove that he had been at Angelus' tender mercies for a time. Scars of the physical and the emotional kind. The latter were getting a bit better, though, seeing as the doctors were getting a bit more hopeful regarding Jenny Calendar's condition. She was still not awake, but all her physical wounds were well on the way toward healing. Giles clung to that ember of hope.

"I know what Buffy has gone through," Giles repeated. "In no way do I blame her, Willow. What she was forced to endure could have broken a dozen men."

He looked at those brave children surrounding him, bruised and tired, yet no doubt willing to go out again as soon as the sun went down tomorrow, putting their lives on the line once more.

Something he could not tolerate any longer.

"It does not change the simple fact that, currently, Buffy is unable to fulfill her duty as the Slayer. The Hellmouth needs protection, more protection than we are able to give it. I am praying for Buffy's recovery every night, just like you, but what we need is a functioning Slayer. As soon as possible."

There was silence for a long time, then Xander nodded, deep sadness in his eyes. "I guess he's right."

"What?" Willow looked at him with outrage. "How can you say that? Buffy will get better, I know she will. She just needs ..."

"Time? How much time, Willow? How many more nights? The world can come to an end in a single night, we've both seen that it's possible. Big G is right, we need some help."

"But ... but Buffy is ..." Willow began, only to fall silent when Oz wordlessly put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing. Giles knew what was going through Willow's head, it had gone through his own more than once.

"Buffy will always be our Slayer, Willow," he told her. "Nothing can change that."

Finally Willow nodded, sinking into the embrace of her boyfriend. Giles looked at her for another long moment, then rose to go into his office and make a long-distance call to England.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

_See part 1 for disclaimer!_

Chapter 2:

She needed some clothes.

It was a strange thing that this should occur to her first, seeing as there were probably a thousand other things she might have thought of. Still, as far as priorities went, covering her naked body probably was pretty high on her list.

The second thought that entered her mind was that she was probably suffering from extreme disorientation. What other explanation was there for the fact that the room seemed to be spinning around her? The stone floor she found herself on was cold, so incredibly cold, and very, very hard. She should not be feeling the cold, she mused. She was cold herself, after all. Cold as the grave.

At about that moment Angelus awoke.

Angela screamed in pain as the demon inside her reminded her of its presence. Her short stay in Heaven, or the waiting room of Heaven to be more precise, had seen her separated from the demon once again, as such a creature could have no place there. Now it was back, they were united once more, and its outraged howling filled her mind, sent her to her knees with agony as she pressed her hands to her ears in a futile attempt to block out the screams.

Memories flooded back into her with astounding speed. She remembered the final battle here in this very room. Angelus had been about to kill Buffy and her memory was in stereo. She was chained to the wall, watching as Angelus killed Buffy inch by inch, but at the same time she was the one doing the killing. She drove her sword into Buffy's shoulder and twisted the blade, watched in satisfaction as Buffy tore her own hands to shreds while trying to pull out the naked blade.

"This isn't me," Angela muttered over and over again. "This isn't me!"

She was not Angelus, had never been Angelus. She carried his memories, yes, just like she carried the memories of a young Irish lad called Liam, but she was not these people. For a hundred years she had tried to figure out her own identity, had tried to understand what the Gypsies had transformed her into on the day when they cursed her, returning a soul to this body while at the same time changing it from male to female.

Now she knew that it had not been Liam's soul that had returned from the ether on that day in 1898. The Gypsies had not known how to retrieve Liam's soul from wherever it might have gone so they just took a soul, any soul. They only sought to punish the demon, not understanding that the only thing they did was force the demon into dormancy. The demon did not suffer from the memories and the guilt, no. The soul did.

A soul that had never known existence before it had been wrenched out of the sea of unborn life and cast into a hell of blood, death, and torment.

It seemed to take forever, but Angelus' screams finally faded into the background. Their recent separation had woken him, had given him a taste of full awareness and freedom, but that was over for now. They were reunited once more and no matter the painful memories and screams it was the soul that was in charge, had always been in charge.

"I'm not you, Angelus," Angela whispered, a cold satisfaction creeping into her voice. "I never was. I never will be."

There was hatred inside of her. Hatred for those who had done this to her. All those had died a century ago, though. Those few that had survived Darla's revenge had lived just long enough to infect their children with their hatred. Angela's thoughts turned to Jennifer Calendar, the gypsy woman that she ... that Angelus had beaten within an inch of her life and put into a coma. Had she recovered by now? How much time had passed anyway?

Realizing that her thoughts were going in circles she forced herself to take stock of her surroundings. The mansion was empty, Akathler's statue nowhere to be seen. There was dust on the floor, undisturbed for what she estimated to be at least a month, maybe more. She had only been in heaven for an hour at the most, right? Who was to say, though, what an hour in heaven meant on Earth.

"Okay," she said to herself. "Priority one: Find some clothes."

Then she would find Buffy.

* * *

"Mr. Giles?"

Giles looked up from his book, at the same time realizing that he had been staring at the same page for at least half an hour. Two days had passed since his call to the Council and the situation was growing worse. Last night Oz had gotten this close to being killed by a vampire. So close, in fact, that Giles had decided not to let anyone patrol tonight.

They would safe no one by getting themselves killed.

Two people were standing in the library door, looking at him. The first, the one who had called his name, was a woman in her late thirties to early forties, dressed in conservative business attire, a stern look on her face. She immediately struck him as cold and strict.

Standing beside her was a girl, no older than sixteen certainly, probably younger. Her hair was completely white and she was dressed in jeans and a simple shirt, a look of anxiety on her face.

Giles sighed in relief, realizing who they had to be.

"Mrs. Post," he greeted the Watcher. "And you must be Ashley."

"The Vampire Slayer," the girl added proudly, yet with a certain reserve that was foreign to Giles after spending so much time around quite a few rather outspoken teenagers.

"Welcome to Sunnydale," he gestured toward the table, where the two newcomers sat down. "Can I get you anything? Tea?"

"That would be a godsend, Mr. Giles," Post said, the barest hint of a smile on her lips.

"Not for me, thanks," Ashley added. She sat with her back straight, her hands folded in her lap.

A few minutes later Post was thankfully sipping on a cup of steaming tea and her posture grew a lot more relaxed.

"I am thankful that you arrived this quickly," Giles said. "Quite frankly I was expecting some more difficulties when I ..."

"The Council is well aware of the danger the Hellmouth represents," Post assured him. "There was some reluctance about sending Ashley here, seeing as she has been called as the Slayer only a month ago, but ..."

"I am ready," Ashley interrupted. "I will not let the Council down."

"I know, Ashley," Post smiled at her.

"Well, we are thankful for having you here," Giles told Ashley, giving her a smile of his own. "Things have been rather difficult as of late, I fear."

"How bad is it?" Post inquired.

"The vampires have multiplied. They are not organized as far as we know, but there are a lot of them. If some elder vampire should arrive and take command of them we will be in very deep trouble."

"Then we should take them out as soon as possible," Ashley offered. Giles had trouble assessing the young girl so far. On one hand she seemed a lot like Kendra, her obvious deference to her Watcher, her manners. Yet at the same time she seemed to be overflowing with eagerness.

"All in good time, Ashley. Mr. Giles, it has been a long flight. You have arranged for lodgings, I trust?"

"Certainly. I have rented a flat in the same block that I live in. It is furnished sparsely, but that will not pose too much of a problem, I hope?"

It was Council policy never to stay in hotels or motels, no matter the length of the stay. Vampires could enter those at will.

"It will do, I am sure. Ashley, please collect our remaining luggage from the taxi driver and pay the fee."

Ashley left to do as she was told, leaving Post alone with Giles.

"Now, Mr. Giles, I would like some more information about the current situation here. Starting with the status of Buffy Summers."

Giles sighed. He had hoped to delay this conversation somewhat, but maybe it was better to get it over with quickly.

"You received the info about the vampire Angela?"

"Certainly. A fascinating creature from what I read. Cursed with a soul and then actually split into a pure vampire demon and a human by some magic wand."

Refilling is tea cup Giles began to narrate the complicated history of Angela, her demise, and the effects it had on Buffy.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3

_See part 1 for disclaimer!_

Chapter 3:

Breaking into the clothing store had been easy, the unnatural strength she had been missing as a human more than a match for the primitive locks. She was not as strong as Angelus remembered being when they had been separated, though. The demon growled, not satisfied with the current state of affairs at all.

Ignoring him as best she could, Angela found herself standing in front of a mirror, staring at nothing. She had felt strangely self-conscious, running through the streets of Sunnydale with nothing but a sheet to hide her nudeness. Looking down she could see the pale flesh of her chest, her breast, her legs, but the mirror showed her nothing. Nothing at all.

Not even Buffy knew that, during those few short months in the sun, she had spent many hours standing in front of the mirror, studying this body that she had lived in for a century but never seen before. She only remembered Liam's body, a young man's flesh, but now knew that she had never lived inside that. No, she had been born into this body, the only body she had ever had and would have until the day she died.

It saddened her that she could not see it now in this new light.

Quickly outfitting herself with a pair of black jeans, black boots, black shirt, and a black leather jacket (and not spending much thought on her return to her old color scheme) she left the store once more, determined to find Buffy as quickly as possible. The being she had encountered in Heaven's waiting room had said that Buffy was suffering, had nearly been broken by the events of that fateful day, and Angela refused to allow that suffering to continue any longer.

She was hungry, though, the demon longing for sustenance after the last few days ... or had it been weeks? She had lost all sense of time. Still, no matter how much she was angered by the delay, it was probably the wiser course of action to feed before encountering any humans. She did not fully trust her control over the demon yet.

If she remembered right there should be an all-night butcher shop close to the school. Only in Sunnydale, she mused, only in Sunnydale.

* * *

Ashley Nelson was rapidly growing bored.

She did not remember ever being bored before her calling. Being brought up by the Council of Watchers meant that all the hours of every single day were filled with learning, training, preparations for that one moment that might never come but, in her case, had indeed arrived a month ago.

The day she had been called as the Slayer, the one girl in all the world to fight against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. The Chosen One.

Everything had changed after that day. She had thought her training had been tough before, but now it was downright brutal. Her studies had intensified as well, her young head filled to the bursting point with information about demons, monsters, magic, and whatever else the Watchers saw fit to cram in there.

Still, she was bored. Maybe it was part of being the Slayer. Her body was crying out for action. She wanted to move, to fight, to do all the things this new strength and speed allowed her to do. Her trainers could not compete with her any longer, they were completely outmatched. Fighting against them, no matter how realistic the conditions, did nothing for her.

Two weeks ago she had been in her first real battle. Since then she had faced and killed several vampires, something that filled with an almost ecstatic joy, and it lessened the urge for a short while.

Ashley knew that she had changed. Using American slang she called herself an adrenalin junky. Growing up among the Watchers had been a sheltered life and left her craving freedom and action. When she had been told that they would travel to America in order for her to guard a mystical convergence called the Hellmouth, which drew demons and monsters like moths to the flame, she had been ecstatic.

Not even her learning that his had been the place where the last Slayer had died had been able to quench that excitement. Post had not told her anything, but Ashley knew ways to get information from her Watcher by other means. She always hid those diaries in the same place.

Kendra, the former Slayer, had died here in this very building, killed by a vampire called Drusilla. This vampire was still at large, though the Council believed she had left the Hellmouth behind and headed for greener pastures. That did not change the fact, though, that Sunnydale was overflowing with things that went bump in the night and would cheerily eat whatever innocent people might be around unless someone was there to stop them. Which was why she was here.

Or so she had thought.

The only problem was that, so far, there had been no action at all. Nothing. Post was busy chatting the night away with this Mr. Giles, the Watcher stationed here to observe the Hellmouth, and this left her sitting at the huge library table, at a loss for anything to do.

She knew that Post did not want her to go out on her own. Not enough experience, she said. She had faced demons before, yes, but never in an area that positively swarmed with them. Ashley knew that Post was probably right about all these things, yet that did not change the fact that she was itching for action.

So it was that, when Ashley suddenly found her innards tensing, felt a strange tingle running through her belly, her eyes went towards the library window and saw a movement out there in the night. A black shape, barely more than a shadow, moving so fast that human eyes would never have noticed anything.

Ashley was more than human, though. She had seen the shadow and her every sense was screaming at her to take action. The enemy was out there, one of the things she had been born to fight. Ever since coming to Sunnydale she had been itching with the feeling of evil all around, but now it was close and she could not sit still any longer.

When Giles and Post came out of his office to make the trip to their apartment they found Ashley gone.

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Chapter 4

!See part 1 for disclaimer!

Chapter 4:

Angela walked down the dark street, approaching a certain house that held a lot of bittersweet memories. She remembered the night it had given Buffy and her refugee from the Three. She had spent the night in the girl's room, had been forced to hide out during the day, only to reveal her true face to Buffy when the foolish girl had been so naive as to believe that they could be friends.

There had been other times, the tree outside Buffy's window giving her easy access at times when her mother was home. Many hours were spent talking as they both sat cross-legged on her bed, Buffy sharing all her secrets with the mysterious woman who fought by her side against her own kind, all the while unaware of the feelings that Angela had tried her best to hide.

So many reasons, she mused. Buffy's youth and inexperience, that purity and innocence that had drawn her like a moth to the flame even as the demon inside her was repulsed. The disgust that something like her, a filthy monster and murderer, would even consider tainting that wonderful purity. The Irish Catholic boy she had believed was inside of her, who found the notion of two women loving each other too disgusting to believe (unless, of course, he just happened to lie between the two at that time).

How much of that still held true? She carried a demon inside of her, that was true, yet she had been shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was separate from it. Two beings who just happened to share a single body. Neither was she a man trapped in a woman's body, no matter her memories. She had been born a woman and would always be one. Maybe it was time she got used to it.

For a moment she stopped walking, imagining things that would probably never happen. She remembered those few short months when Buffy, knowing what kind of feelings Angela held for her, had tried to figure out her own emotions. Angela did not doubt that Buffy held feelings for her in return, but the chance that those feelings could ever be ... she shook her head. This was not the time to think about that. The only important thing now was to find Buffy and help her in whatever way she could. Everything else could wait.

Finally arriving outside Buffy's house Angela was burning with impatience and anticipation. How would Buffy react? Would she be glad to see her? Would she remember the demon that was back inside of her, how much he had hurt her and her friends? She shivered for a moment, remembering how it had felt to run Buffy through with the sword, twist the blade to hear her scream.

She had not yet found an answer when she realized that Buffy was not here. The only light in the house burned in the living room and only the scent of Buffy's mother filled her nostrils, interlaced with the stench of alcohol, quite a bit of it. Sneaking closer she found traces of Buffy's scent underneath all that, but those were old and almost faded.

Buffy had not been here in weeks.

Dread filled her upon realizing this. What had happened to her? Earlier she had gone by the library, but seeing that Giles had visitors she had decided against revealing herself. Things would be awkward enough between them, considering the fact that Angela vividly remembered torturing the Watcher within in an inch of his life. They certainly did not need an audience for it. Buffy had not been there, which had resolved the matter for her. Giles could wait.

If Buffy was not there, though, and had not been home for weeks, where could she be?

She was still in Sunnydale. Angela did not know why she was so certain about that, she just knew. Maybe she did not live at home anymore, for whatever reason. If she was still in Sunnydale, though, then this time of night would probably see her patrolling.

Breaking off a branch from a nearby tree to make an improvised stake Angela headed for the nearest cemetery.

* * *

Saying that Ashley was confused would be putting things mildly.

The shadow she had seen through the library window had turned out to be a woman, dressed all in black. If there had been any doubt about her being a vampire it had vanished when she had seen the woman visit the butcher shop, hungrily gulping down a large bag of blood.

That was strange enough in itself, though. Why should a vampire visit the butcher for blood? Why not take it from a handy human victim? Even though every instinct she had was screaming at Ashley to attack and stake the vampire on the spot she decided to follow it instead. This was as good a chance as any to get a feel for the vampires running around here. The Watchers had taught her about the value of good reconnaissance.

The black-clad woman did not behave the way Ashley had been taught by those some Watchers, though. She walked the streets like a normal human instead of prowling in the shadows, had ignored at least half a dozen easy victims on the way toward a house where she had spent at least five minutes just standing around, looking at a dark window.

Just when Ashley had been about to stake her out of sheer boredom the vampire moved on, snatching a tree branch on the way. What did a vampire need a tree branch for?

About ten minutes later she found out, which only served to confuse her more. The vampire headed directly toward a cemetery (how come this one little town had so many cemeteries?) and when she came upon a band of other vampires she used that same tree branch to stake them. Just like that. A few kicks, a few punches, then poof. No more vampires. Well, except her.

What was going on here? The Watchers had never said anything about vampires staking other vampires. She had expected there to be rivalries, maybe even fights, but one vampire just walking up to three others, beating them up, then staking them? There was something terribly wrong about that picture.

Mostly because she did not know what else to do Ashley continued trailing that very strange and confusing vampire.

* * *

Angela was getting desperate. She had checked out three cemeteries and no trace of Buffy, not even the barest hint of her scent. On the positive side she had found that her fighting abilities were still up to par, as was evident by six heaps of dust she had left in her wake. The demon inside her growled with every single death she brought to her own kind, but with fresh blood coursing through her veins it was getting easier to ignore its howl.

On the other hand the presence of so many vampires was definitely something that should worry her. During the time Buffy and her had gone on patrol together there had seldom been more than two or three vampires around per night. Why were there so many of them now?

The only explanation she could come up with ended up worrying her even more.

In the end Angela decided that blindly searching around Sunnydale would avail her little, even though there were quite a few hours left until sunrise. No, the best way would be to consult Buffy's friends, they had to know where she was. Best starting point would probably be Giles. For a moment she considered going by the library again, but there was no telling whether the librarian would be alone by now.

She could call him on the phone, though. Her old apartment should still be there, considering that, upon coming to Sunnydale, she had used Angelus' amassed riches to buy the entire building in order to keep herself safe from snoopy neighbors. Spending no time debating with herself she quickly made her way toward her old home.

Thirty feet in front of her door she caught the scent she had been searching for all night. Buffy! She was here, behind that door. Why was she here? She could not know that Angela was back, could she?

Angela quickly found that she did not care in the least. Buffy was here, the rest was detail to be sorted out later. She reached the door at a run, taking no time to even knock or check whether it was locked. It was not. Angela simply barreled right through and into the living room.

"Buffy?"

Her scent permeated the entire apartment, her presence was almost touchable. She had been here a while. Angela looked around, her eyes finally finding the bed tucked away in a separated part of the large living room. Someone was lying there, someone moaning in the throes of what had to be a nightmare.

Angela knelt beside the bed, frozen into inaction by the vision before her. Buffy was lying in her old bed, the black silk sheet the only thing covering her body, her blonde hair spread out across the pillows. She was so very beautiful, though the look of pain on her young face broke her heart.

Softly brushing her fingers over Buffy's cheek she wished she could just take the nightmares away. The Slayer grew still, the nightmares seeming to fade, and leaned into the touch of the cold fingers. Angela could not help but smile.

"Buffy, wake up," she whispered.

The blonde Slayer stirred, but at the same time Angela realized that someone else was in the apartment, someone who was right behind her. Instinct made her move, throwing herself to the side and rolling across the floor. A wooden stake whipped through the air where she had been but moments before.

"Get away from her, demon," the white-haired girl he had seen at the library snarled at him.

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

When Buffy woke from her latest nightmare, woken by, of all things, Angela's beautiful voice, she was convinced that she had finally gone mad.

Angela's quiet little apartment had become the site of a heated battle between Angela (who was dead and could not possibly be here) and a white-haired girl that Buffy had never seen before in her life, but who fought with a strength and skill that was definitely more than human. Maybe this was all still a part of that nightmare she thought she had woken up from.

The Vampire Slayer found herself sitting on the bed, naked except for a black silk sheet, and could do nothing but watch as the battle went on, trying to wake up.

* * *

This was more like it, Ashley mused. She probably should not be relieved that a demon had decided to attack an innocent, but at least it was finally behaving the way it was supposed to. The Slayer had no time to wonder how the creature had managed to enter this apartment. Maybe the Watchers had been wrong about the whole invitation thing. Seeing her how she leaned over the sleeping girl, preparing to bite her, was all Ashley needed to explode into action.

The vampire moved fast, evading her surprise attack that could have ended the battle before it began. Ashley was still getting used to her new senses, but this demon felt old to her. Old meant powerful. A small part of her wondered whether she was ready for a fight like this. So far she had only faced newborn vampires, never one who moved so fast and struck back at her with such strength.

It was too late for second thoughts, though.

Ashley attacked again, throwing punches and kicks at the vampire, who blocked all her strikes and responded in kind. They went back and forth in the limited space of the apartment, smashing a couch table and a picture hanging on the wall in the process. A side glance showed that the girl who had almost ended up as a meal had woken, staring at the scene before her with wide eyes. Ashley guessed that she was older than herself, but suddenly the Slayer felt positively ancient compared to this girl who had probably never suspected that the monsters might actually be real.

A painful blow from the vampire, who was now in full demon face, sent her reeling, crashing into a wall. She was back in the fight a moment later, though, lashing out with every fighting technique the Watchers had drilled into her. The vampire seemed to be familiar with those, though, and Ashley found it impossible to lay a hand on her.

Looking into the face of the vampire, madness blazing in those demon eyes, Ashley could not help the feeling that this was a fight she was going to lose.

* * *

Angela realized that she was losing control. The girl who had tried to ambush her had to be a Slayer, no other explanation was possible. An inexperienced one, though, probably called when Kendra had died. The demon inside her did not care, though. It only knew that someone was trying to hurt it and that someone had to die.

Angelus roared with fighting madness and Angela found herself swept away on a crest of demonic fury.

* * *

Willow was on her way to make her nightly visit to Buffy, debating how much to tell her best friend about today's events. Giles had called her just before she left her home, telling her that the new Slayer was in town, along with her Watcher. He had also told her that said Slayer was currently walkabout, which left both the Watchers with their fair share of worry.

She was not thinking so much about the new Slayer, though, but rather about how Buffy might react. Should she tell her that she had been replaced? No, not replaced! No one could ever replace Buffy. Just ... a stand-in. Someone to take care of things until Buffy got herself back together. Yes, that was what it was, nothing more.

Still, Willow was not certain that this was something that Buffy needed to hear. Or maybe it would make her feel better to know that the streets were safe in her absence? Or maybe she would think that she was no longer needed here and ... and do what she had almost done a few days ago. No, she could not tell her. Willow shook her head for emphasis even though there was no one around but herself.

Nothing to tell, she resolved. Business as usual. Once Buffy was better she would be ready to learn about Ashley, but not any earlier than that.

Willow was about two steps away from the front door of Angela's apartment when said door suddenly exploded outward, raining shards down on her. Two shapes were rolling over the floor, both of them female, both of them dressed in black clothing. Willow did not know the white-haired girl, but she needed only a second to recognize the dark-haired woman.

"Angela?"

* * *

Buffy heard Willow call out in surprise from the outside. What was Willow doing here in this dream? Maybe this was not a dream, but rather some sort of hallucination. Maybe she was seeing two people fight and none of them was Angela, she was just imagining it. Or maybe ...

Without another thought Buffy leaped off the bed, stopping just long enough to grab a shirt and cover the worst of her nudity. Maybe this was not a nightmare. Maybe this was real. Why should Willow react to something that was not?

The fight had spilled to the outside and Buffy saw that Angela was winning. The white-haired girl, strong but obviously inexperienced, was driven back step by step, a look of desperation spreading on her face. When Buffy looked at Angela she could not suppress a gasp.

Angela's demon face was warped with fury, eyes blazing, hissing at the girl in front of her. For a moment the world around Buffy seemed to waver, memories of fighting against Angelus superimposed over the present. She remembered struggling against the demon, being driven back by his superior strength and speed. Angela had saved her, though. She had reunited with the monster to save her and then sacrificed her life to save the world.

Buffy looked at the snarling demon again, just in time to see the white-haired girl stumble. She was off-balance just long enough for Angela to slip past her defenses and deliver a thundering uppercut that took her off her feet and left her sprawled on the floor, dazed.

Angela moved in for the kill.

* * *

Ashley tried to lift her arms, tried to do something to defend herself, but her body refused to respond. The world around her was spinning, her eyes unable to focus, but she did see the black shadow of the vampire coming toward her. This could not be it, could it? She had only been the Slayer for a month, she could not die yet! She knew Slayers all died young, but not this young!

A cold hand grabbed her by the throat, pulling her off the ground with inhuman strength. Ashley was fighting for breath, trying to find the strength to break free, even as the vampire's fangs were moving closer to her throat. Not like this! Please, not like this!

Suddenly the fingers vanished, fresh air filling her lungs once more. She crumbled back to the ground, her knees buckling when nothing held her up anymore, and for a moment the world consisted of nothing but the sweet air in her lungs and the fading adrenalin rush when she realized she was still alive.

All of this gave way to confusion, though, when she saw why that was the case.

* * *

"Angela?" Buffy searched the face before her, still not entirely sure that all of this was not just a dream, but willing to assume it was not. Angela was back, she had come back to her.

Or had she?

The vampire growled, the demon face still prominent on her features, her eyes blazing with rage. Those were Angelus' eyes, she realized. Demon fury mixed with bloodlust. She had gone through a portal into Hell, Buffy reminded herself. God alone knew what she had experienced there.

"Angela, it's me, Buffy!"

Slowly, so slowly that Buffy wondered if she might just imagine it, Angela's demon face began to fade, melting back into her human features. Reason returned to her eyes, humanity regaining its hold. Buffy could practically watch as Angela fought down the demon that had taken control during the fight.

For a long moment the two of them just looked at each other, neither saying anything. This was not a dream, Buffy realized. This was real. Angela was back.

"Hi," Angela finally said.

A moment later they were in each other's arms, Buffy burying into the larger woman's embrace, the tears she had spilled so often this last month breaking free once more. This time they were tears of relief, though. Angela was back. Everything would be all right now.

Feeling the Slayer's body pressed against hers, sensing the immense joy Buffy felt upon having her back, chased the remains of Angelus from Angela's mind. This was home, yes. She had made the right decision to come back.

Whatever else happened now could be dealt with.

Things like that white-haired Slayer who slowly got back to her feet and looked at them all with eyes full of questions.

"Somebody want to explain this to me?"

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. Chapter 6

!See part 1 for disclaimer!

Chapter 6:

Ashley had thought she was confused before, but apparently she had very much underestimated the levels of confusion this town and its strange inhabitants could elevate her to. Here was a vampire who bought her blood at the Butcher instead of taking it from a bystander. A vampire who simply walked into what appeared to be a private home to lean over a sleeping girl, but apparently not in order to feed on her. At least not if their current behavior was any indication.

The formerly sleeping girl was now buried in the vampire's embrace, sobbing her heart out. Just moments earlier she had managed to make that same vampire let go of Ashley, who would probably be dead now if she had not.

Seeing as neither the vampire nor the blonde girl (who was dressed in nothing but a shirt that was a bit too large for her, yet still did little to cover all the areas that should be covered) seemed to have heard her earlier question, Ashley instead turned toward the redheaded girl who had turned up a few minutes ago. The redhead was looking at the scene in front of her as well, her eyes wide, but apparently felt Ashley's stare and turned towards her.

"Hi," she just said. "I guess you are Ashley, right?"

Ashley assumed her face gave away that she was completely clueless at the moment, so she did not bother saying anything. She was quite sure her mouth would have produced nothing but stupid sounds at the moment.

"I am Willow," the redhead continued. "Giles just told me we have a new Slayer in town."

Giles? Mr. Giles? How did this girl know Mr. Giles, the Watcher? How did she know about Slayers? Again, she found herself incapable of actually pronouncing all these questions.

Willow gave the shattered remains of the apartment door a glance, then turned back toward Ashley with a smile.

"I guess you already met Angela and Buffy, right?"

Willow indicated the two persons in question, who were still hugging each other for all they were worth. The blonde one had slipped to the ground, still sobbing, and the vampire was now sitting with her, still holding her.

"What ... who ...?" Ashley realized that she still should not have opened her mouth.

"It's a long story," Willow said with a happy sigh. "I guess I should give you some background on this, right? Just so you don't try slaying the good guys again."

"Good guys?" Well, at least that had sounded semi-coherent.

"Angela is as good as they come," Willow said, her voice leaving no doubt as to the truth of her words. "None of us would be here today if not for her."

Ashley simply nodded, following Willow as she drew her aside a few steps, giving Buffy and Angela (which was which and what kind of stupid name was Buffy anyway?) a little room.

"This is gonna be one heck of a story, right?"

"Count on it!"

* * *

"This is just great," Mrs. Post sighed, shaking her head. "What was Ashley thinking just running off?"

Giles stood beside her, not able to give any answer to that question. They had looked around the school and the nearby area, but there was no trace of the white-haired Slayer. Seeing as it was not exactly a good idea to go around strolling in the dark in Sunnydale, especially now with so many vampires around, they had not widened their search but instead returned to the library.

"Is this usual behavior for her?"

Certainly not," Post emphasized. "Ashley is a good girl and does what she is told. She has never behaved in this way before."

Giles, who had sensed the barely concealed eagerness in Ashley's voice earlier, was not quite convinced, but chose not to argue the point. Right now it was more important to find the girl before she got into more trouble than she could handle.

Which left him with the question just how to accomplish that.

"I will call a few friends," Giles finally decided. "If we go out in a larger group we should be relatively safe to look for her."

Post gave him a glance. "You do not mean the civilians that Buffy Summers has seen fit to include in her duties, do you? Quite frankly, Mr. Giles, the Council has never been too happy about that and I certainly do not want Ashley to get any ideas in that direction."

"Mrs. Post," Giles said, finding that remaining courteous with this woman might put quite a strain on him, "Buffy's friends are one of the reasons she has managed to perform her duties so well. If not for one of those friends she would not have returned from her death at the Master's hand and the world would now be ruled by demons. These young people have done more than their share to keep the world safe from the things that lurk around the Hellmouth and I would very much appreciate it if you kept from belittling them."

Post was a bit taken aback by his words, but decided that the matter was not worth an argument. At least not while Ashley was somewhere out there, doing God alone knew what.

"Very well, call them if you must. I do not want Ashley to have any kind of prolonged contact with them, though. Your methods might have proven successful with Buffy, but Ashley is a different kind of girl."

"If you say so."

"We have to hurry, too," Post said as an afterthought. "One of the reasons the Council sent us here so quickly was that we received information about a demon called Lagos, who will be coming to Sunnydale to find a mystical artifact called the Glove of Mynhegon."

"The ... the Glove of Mynhegon?"

"By your tone I presume you have read about it?"

Giles reached for the phone, now filled with a great sense of urgency.

* * *

"Wow," Ashley said when Willow finished filling her in.

"Pretty much, yeah." The redhead's gaze was once again on Buffy and Angela.

Ashley shook her head, unable to believe this story she had just heard. So this blonde girl was Buffy, the Slayer who had died but come back. She had heard some rumors about that back at the Watchers' headquarters near London, but written them off to some people's passion for gossip. Slayers in training were not told much about their predecessors, which Ashley felt was not such a bad idea. She had enough reminders about the retirement aspects of being the Slayer even without learning about the deaths of the others. By the time she had figured out where Mrs. Post hid her diaries there had been no mention of one Buffy Summers in them, only of Kendra, who had died on the Hellmouth.

She had not been the only Slayer here, though. There was Buffy, also a Slayer, the one who had died in order for Kendra to be called, but had returned none the worse for wear. Then there was Angela, a vampire cursed with a soul, who had apparently been Buffy's best friend and fought at her side for quite some time.

Only then something had happened and Angela had been split into her human and demonic halves, resulting in the demon Angelus' nearly bringing about the end of the world. Only Angela's sacrifice had prevented that, her taking the demon back inside and then giving her life to close the portal to Hell he had opened.

Apparently, though, that life had not been given away after all. The vampire was here, holding a sobbing Slayer.

"How did she come back?"

Willow shrugged. "I have no idea. Before I saw you two fighting tonight I thought she was dead and gone." A happy smile spread on her face. "She's back! She's really back!"

It seemed to sink in only now, Ashley realized when she saw Willow's face. The redhead was positively bouncing with happiness at seeing the vampire alive and well ... or well, at least. Everything inside Ashley refused to acknowledge that a vampire might be the source of that happiness. Vampires were the enemy. They had to be destroyed.

How did the rules apply to a vampire with a soul, though? One who had been split apart into a demon and a human? One whose human half had reintegrated with the demon to save the world? Ashley had no idea about that one.

"I ... I need to speak to my Watcher about this," she muttered, then remembered something else. The little fact that she had run out on said Watcher earlier tonight to follow this very vampire. Post would be livid.

Ashley groaned. She did not even have a dusted vampire to show for her disobedience.

"This is just great!"

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
